Ovarian Cancer Patients Can Have Their Life Extended Using A PARP Inhibitor

By Ross Hanson on July 10, 2019

Ovarian cancer sufferers have to undergo around 4 or more rounds of chemotherapy along with other treatment options so as to increase their lives. The current research shows a promising breakthrough for a drug called niraparib that is expected to extend life at the time people give up their hopes. According to Gynecologic Oncologist Kathleen Moore at the Stephenson Cancer Center, ovarian cancer patients can very well rely on the current study. The research shows that ovarian cancer patients with no BRCA gene mutation and have undergone multiple chemotherapy treatments could have a longer survival time by using niraparib, a PARP inhibitor that targets only cancer cells and not normal cells.

The drug helps increase the survival rate. Patients without BRCA mutations are the current focus and the researchers are working hard to find the best treatment to help patients buy time and also provide them with the next effective line of therapy. It is known that women with BRCA-associated cancers respond well to PARP inhibitors but nothing much is known about the ones without a BRCA mutation in the blood or tumor. The ovarian cancer women generally lack BRCA mutation and thus, there is an urgent need for finding effective therapies for the 75% of the women without BRCA mutations.

However, BRCA mutation gives patients a good chance to respond to chemotherapy or PARP inhibitor like niraparib as the mutation has homologous recombination deficiency wherein the mistakes made during the multiplication of the cancer cells is non-repairable those mistakes. PARP inhibitors like help make it hard for the cancer cells and finally the cells die. The platinum-based chemotherapy patients showed a higher response to the PARP inhibitor. The addition of a few more months for ovarian cancer patients is quite a relief. The University of Birmingham researchers have found a new means of BRCA1 gene functions that could help scrutinize the development of ovarian and breast cancers. It has been found that as a protective role of BRCA1, the DNA-copying is disabled while its break repair function remains active in the breast and ovarian cancer.

Ross has studied masters in business administration from one of the elite universities. Formerly, he worked with one of the Fortune 100 companies in the U.S. his in-depth knowledge related to statistics has helped in managing the professional duties very well. In leisure time, Ross loves to play badminton. He is a pet lover and has a cute German shepherd “Tarzan.”